Advertising device



June 9, 1925.

Y Y A. K. DAVIS ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. 76m [0402s.

6/ AfiNEY? June 9, 1925. 1,540,830

A. K. DAVIS ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1921 4 Sheets-Shaw: 2

3 0 o 4 v 22 20 ji /a "#7 ii a l i: //2 2 45 .h i

I N VEN TOR.

June 9, 1925. 1,540,830

A. K. DAVIS ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed April 23, 1921 4 Sheets-Sheet :3

I I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNE! June '9, 1925.

A. K. DAVIS ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed April 25, 1921 4 Sheets-SheetPatented June 9, 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,540,830 PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT K. DAVIS, or BUFFALO, NEW YORK.

ADVERTISING DEVICE.

Application filed April 23, 1921. Serial No. 464,032.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT K. ])AV1S, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, county of Erie, State of New York, haveinvented acertain new and useful Improvement in Advertising Devices, and declarethe following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the same,such as will enable others skilled in the art to'which it pertains tomake and use the same,reference being hadto the accompanying drawings,which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to advertising devices and an object of theinvention is to provide a device for displaying successively a series ofcards or mats bearing advertising matter or other matter for displayeach of which is exposed to view for a certain length of time. A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a device of the character statedthat is simple in construction and automatic in operation and thatoccupies but small floor space adapting the device to be used in showwindows, as an act annunciator for theatres and other places'of similarnature.

The device preferably is formed of a framework provided with a pair ofoppositely inclined guideways, one above the other arranged in parallelrelation upon opposite sides of the framework on which the rods of thecard supporting frames are adapted to ride and down which tlieytravel bygravity. A card on each of the upper and lower sets of guideways isexposed'to View at the same time and a transfer device or carrier isreciprocatingly mounted on the framework and adapted to move a card andframe from the front of the upper guideways and deposit it upon thelower guideways, and also remove a card from the lower guideways anddeposit it on the upper guideways. Thus by reciprocating the carrier thecards are successively shown and each is exposed to view in consecutiveorder for a consider able period, as the card is first exposed to viewon the upper guideways. is continued in view while being deposited onthe lower guideways and remains'in view until a succeeding card isdeposited on' the lower guideways. This arrangement of the cards inbanks, one above the other also enables a large number of cards to becarried in much smaller space horizontally than if carried in a singlebank.

A further object of the invention is to provide an advertising device ofthecharacter described in which the operating mechanism is adapted to beautomatically stopped todisplay the exposed card to view for anindeterminate period, a switch being provided whereby the device may beoperated independently of the automatic stop mechanism. These and otherobjects and the several novel'fea'tures of the invention in itspreferred form are hereinafter more fully described and claimed andshown in the accompanying drawings in which i Fig. 1 is a front view ofan advertising device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a section takenjon line 2-2 of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 2 to show the operation of thedevice.

Fig. 4 is a section similar to Fig. 3.

Fig. 5is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. i

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the carrier for changing the advertisingcards.

Fig. 7 is a detail of one of the upper guideways.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of carrying frames.

Fig. 9 is an elevation thereof.

Fig. 10 is a wiring diagram of the'three way switch for operating thedevice.

' Fig. 11 is an end view of a series of card frames showing the meansfor spacing: the

same. I

Fig. 12- is a View showing the actuator for one of the card a switch inthe motor circuit.

The device consists of a casing 1 inv the upper end of which is mounteda shelf 2 on which is supported an electric motor 3 and rheostat 4:connected thereto. The rheostat t consist's'of a resistance coil overwhich a contact member 5 is movable to increase or diminish the currentsupply to the electric motor 3 and vary the speed of operation thereof.Supportedwithin this casing isan upright channel memberG which issecured to the shelf 2 at the upper end and to the casing 1 at the lowerend; Rotatably mounted in the upright member 6 is astub shaft '7 onwhich is secured a large pulley 8 and a small pulley 9. A belt 10 isprovided connecting the pulley. 1.1 of the electric motor to the largepulley 8. a belt 12 being also, provided connecting the small pulley 9to a pulley 13 which is secured tov a stub shaft 13 rotatably mounted inthe upright 6, a sprocket 14 being also secured on the said stub shaft.A sprocket chain 15 is provided meshin with th sprocket 14 and ex tendsupwardly and over a sprocket 16 which is secured on a shaft 18 rotatablymounted in a block 17 as shown more particularly in Fig. 2. The member 6is provided with a slot 19 through which the shaft 18 extends and theblock 17 is provided with a. threaded rod 20 extending upwardly throughthe shelf 2 and through a bracket 21 mounted thereon. A nut 22 isprovided in threaded relation with the rod 20 and by turning the nut therod 20 and block 17may be moved upwardly or downwardly to move the shaft18 and sprocket 16 in the slot 19 to increase or decrease the tension onthe chain 15. Pivotally secured to one of the links of the chain 15 is apitman 23 which is also pivotally connected to a carrier 24. The carrier24 is provided with a channel shaped portion25 which fits over theupright member 6 and provides a guide for the carrier. The carrier, asshown more particularly in Fig. 6, is provided at the ends with members26 and 27 which extend behind the frame members 28 which are secured tothe casing 1 by the supports 29, as shown more particularly in Fig. 5.Each of these members 26 and 27 are provided with an inturned end 30.The members 26 and 27 are each stamped out at 31 and 32 to provide lugsand 34 upon which the catches 35 and 36 are pivoted. These catches 35and 36 are so positioned as to rid upon movement of the carrier betweenthe frame members 28 and the upper and lower guide members 37 and 38respectively. The upper guide members 37, as shown more particularly inFig. 7, are each provided with an inclined face 39 extending toward thefront of the machine and down which the rod ends 40 of the card frame41,shown more particularly in figs.

8 and 9, are adapted to ride. Each member 37 is provided with anupturned end 4:2 providing a stop, for the card frames and each of themembers 37 is secured in spaced relation with thecorresponding framemember 28 on the rods 43.

The guideways 38 are also secured in spaced relation with the framemembers 28 on the rods 44. These guide members 38, as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 2, are provided with inclined faces 52 tending todirect the card frames 41 toward the rear of the machine, an upturnedend 46 being provided to prevent the card frames from moving off theguideways. As shown more particularly in Fig. 1, a guide member 37 isprovided at each side of the machine which are both identically the samein form and adapted to receive the rod ends 40 of the card frames 41.These card frames 41 are channel shaped in cross section and the cardsbearing the advertising matter are slipped through between the uppercross members 90 and into the. U-shaped channel member 41. As shown inFigs. 9 and 11 the channel member 41 is enlarged at 91 in each verticalextending end and the frames are also provided with enlargements 92 atthe upper end as shown more particularly in Fig. 11. By means of theenlargements 91 and 92 the card frames are spaced apart on the racks andthe lettering on the faces of the cards is thus prevented from beingrubbed ofl. Another object of providing these enlargements 91 and 92 isto prevent the frames from catching on one another during travel whichwould tend to displace the frames and cause the operating parts of themachine to jam. A short wire or rod 40 is brazed onto each upper end ofthe frame as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 adapting the frames to be supportedin the racks thereby and by means of the wire ends 40 being preventedfrom movement toward either side of the machine by the side plates 28the card frames are held in alignment one behind the other as shown moreparticularly in Fig. 1. There are also two guide members 38 which arepositioned in correct relation and in alignment to direct the cardframes 41 toward the rear of the machine. The carrier as shown in Fig.6, is also provided with a pair of members 47 which are posi tionedopposite the edges of the card frames 41 as shown in Fig. 1 which areadapted as shown in Fig. 2 to move up and down with the carrier andprevent any of the card frames from swinging out into the path of travelof the carrier. Pivotally mounted on the guideway 37 is an arm 48 havinga depending lug 49 adapted to ride in a slot 59 shown moreparticularly'in dotted lines in Fig. 7

In operation the carrier will be first considered in the lowermostposition shown in Fig, 2. At this time the electric motoris set inoperation which, by means of the belt 10, rotates the pulleys 8 and 9and by means of the belt 12 the pulley 13 is rotated which rotates thesprocket 14 and drives the chain 15. As the chain 15 moves, the pitman2-3 is carried upward, thereby moving the carrier 24 upward on the framemember 6 as a guide. As the endsof the catches 35 pass by the guideways38 the rod ends 40 of the card frame 41 are caught by the catches 35 andthe card frame is carried upwardly by the carrier as shown in Fig. 8. Asthe carrier continues to travel upwardly to the position shown in Fig.4, the. catches 36 engage the rod ends 40 of the card frame 41' at theforward end of the guidewaysB? and lift the same therefrom. Due to theinclined face 51 of the catches 36 the frame 41 travels down the sameuntil stopped by the inturnedv ends 30 of the carrier 24. At the sametime as the card frame'41 is passing tlie'rear of the guideways 37thepivoted arms -18 are contacted by the rod ends 40 thereof and movedto the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7, which allows th cardframe 4:1? to pass thereby to the uppermost position shown in Fig. 4. Asthe pitnian 23 travels around the sprocket 16 and starts on the downwardmovement the carrier is moved downward whereupon the rod ends 40 of thecard frame 41 are engaged by the members 48 which guide the card frame41 onto the guideways 37. At the same time the card frame 41 being atthe bottom of the inclined faces 51 of the catches 36, is allowed topass by the g'uideways 37 without interference, the outer ends of thecatches 36 striking the rod ends of the next adjacent card frame whichtilts the catches 36 on the pivots therefor sufficiently to allow thesame to pass without interference. As the carrier continues downward tothe lowermost posi tion the frame 41 is picked from the catches 36 bythe extending ends of the guideways 38 and then rides down the angularfaces 52 until in contact with the next adjacent card frame. As thecatches pass the. inner ends of the guideways 38 the rod ends of theadjacent'card frame are engaged by the catches which are tilted by thesaid rod ends suiiicient to allow the catches to pass thereby. It willthus be noted that upon each complete reciprocation consisting of anupward and corresponding downward move ment of the carrier 24, a cardand card frame are moved from the guideways 38 and deposited on theguideways 37 and V. at the same time a card and card frameare removedfrom the guideways 37 and deposited on the guideways 38. By thisconstruction the faces of two cards are always exposed to view and .byadjusting the speed of operation of the motor by means of the rheostatthe interval in whichthe cards are eX- posed before being changed maybevaried to suit the operator.

This machine may be easily adapted for use as a theatre annuncia-tor,forannouncing the different acts in a vaudeville-theatre in correctorder. For this purpose the machine is generally placed upon each sideof the stage or secured to the wall adjacent thereto and when the deviceis to be used as an act annunciator the casing is so formed as to coverthe lower card and leave the front card on the upper guideways exposedto view. To allow the card announcing the act to remain in view duringthe act I provide an automatic switch mechanism for stopping theoperation of the device which consists of a bracket 53 shown moreparticularly in Figs. 2 and 6, which is secured to the carrier 24. Abracket 54, shown more particularly in Figs. 1 and 2, is secured to theframe member 6 and is provided with a pair of apertured lugs 55 throughwhich a rod; or plunger56 extends and which form a guide for the'saidplunger; This plunger is provided. with a head 57 adapted to'be engagedby the bracket 53 when in the lowermost position and. downward movementof the plunger 56 is adapted to throw a snap switch 62 contained withinthe. casing 58 the snap switch and wiring therefor being shown moreparticularly in Fig. 10. A pair of wires 78 and 79 are connected to a.suitable source of current 65, the wire 78 leading to the electric motor3. Aconduit 77 is provided leading from the motor and is connected witha contact 67 on the snap switch 62 and a conduit 76 is providedconnecting the contacts 66 and 67 the switch 62 being also provided withcontacts 68 and 69. A diagonal snap switch member 70 of the switch 62 isprovided adapted to connect the contacts 66 and'68 and is also adaptedto be turned one-fourth a turn to connect the contacts 67 and 69. Theswitch. is so constructed that upon each downward movement of, theplunger 56 the member .70 is turned one-fourth a turn. The switch havingthe switch member 70 and the actuator therefor shown in .Fig. 12 arepreferably within the casing 58. As will be understood from Fig.12theactuator preferably consists of a ratchet on the shaft 91 on which theswitch member 70 is secured. A spring-pressed pawl 92 is adapted toengage the notches of the ratchet wheel 90and this pawl is carried onan'arm 93' pivoted to the shaft, the outer end of which is slotted asindicated at 94 to receive a pin 95 provided on the lower end of the rod56. -With this construction each downward movement of the rod 56 turnsthe actuator 90 one-fourth of a turn and thereby. turns the; switchmember 70 successively as above set forth. A second manually opera-tedsnap switch 64 is provided at any suitable point and usually atadistance from the switch. 62. A conduit 81 is provided connecting thecontacts 69 and 74 and a conduit 82 is also provided connecting thecontacts 68 and 73. Apair of contacts 71 and 72 are also provided on theswitch .64:

i and a conduit 80 is provided connecting the same. A conductor79 isprovided connecting the contact 71 with the source of current and adiagonal switch member 75 similar to the member '70, is also providedadapted to be turned byhand to the position shown in full or dottedlines in Fig. 10. With thedeviceqset asshown in Fig. 10 the flow is fromth'e source of current 65 through the line79, contact 7l, mem'ber 75,contact 73, conduit 82, contact 68, member 70, contact 66, conduit76,,c0ntact 67, conductor 77 thence through the motor 3 and back to thesource of current through the line 78. hen the motor is thus turned onthe carrier, as shown in 7. Fig. 2, will .travel .up-

'vardly carryingthe card frame 41 up and onto the guideway 37 and uponreturn carries the card frame l down onto the guideway 38, in whichposition. it isbehind a front. panel placed over the casing (not hereshown) and the succeeding card onthe guideways 37 is the only cardexposed to View; These cardsare arranged. on the guideways so that thecards are presented to view in the order of the acts. As the carriermoves downward after depositing the card frame 41 on the guideways 38the bracket 53 contacts the head 57 of the plunger 56 and moves the samedownward which throws the switch member .70 to the position shown indotted lines in Fig. 10, which breaks the circuit and stops the machineand leaves the card on the upper guideways 87. exposed to view. Thiscard will remain in view as long asthe machine is stopped and when theact announced by the said card is finishedtheoperator turns the switchmember to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 10at which time thecurrent flows through the conduit, 79, contact 71, conduit 80, contact72,.switch member 75, contact 74, conduit 81, contact 69, switch member70, contact 67, conduit 7 7, thence through the motor and the line 78 tothe source of current. This sets the device again'in operation and againmoves the carrier 24 upwardly which carries the rear card from theguideways 38 and deposits the same onto the rear of the guideways .87 atthe same time removing theforward card from the guideways37 anddepositing the same on the guideways 38, thus exposing the succeedingcard on the guideways 37 to view; As the carrier is'moved to the extremelowermost position the plunger 56 is again actuated which'throws theswitch member 7 O to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 10 thusagain breaking the circuit and stopping the machine- It can thus be seenthat in the use of this device as a theatre annunciator it is onlynecessary for the operator to actuate the switch 64 at the beginning ofeach act, there by exposing the card announcing the act to the view ofthe audience. I 1

From the foregoing description it becomes evident that the device iseasily operated, is very eflicient in operation, occupies but smallfloorspace and by this construction a device is provided whichaccomplishes the objects desired. 1

Having thus fully described my invention,

its utility and'mode of operation, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters'Patent of the United States is 1. In a device of the characterdescribed, a pair of upper guidew'ays inclined toward the front of themachine, a pair of lower guideways inclined towardthe rear of themachine, a pivoted extension on the rear ends of the upper guideways aseries of card frames adapted to be carried upon the lower and upperguideways, a carrier adapted to carry one of the card frames from thelower guideways to the upper guideways, the construction being such thatupon the card frame striking the pivoted extensions the same are turnedupward to allow the card frame to pass thereby and upon downwardmovement of the card frame the same is engaged by the said extensionsand directed onto the upper guideways.

2. In a device of the characterdescribed, a framework, a pair of upperand) a 'pairof lower oppositely inclined guideways, the guideways ofeach set being in parallel relation, a pivoted latch on the upper endsof the upper set of guideways, a series of cards or mats supported oneach set of guideways down which they are adapted to travel by gravity,each of said guideways being formed with an upwardly projecting portionat the lower end providing a stop for the supported cards, a

transfer device recip'rocably mounted in the framework, a series ofcatches pivotally mounted in the transfer device adapted to separatea'single card from each set and deposit it on the guideways for theother set, a drive chain, a pitinan pivot-ally connecting the chain andtransfer device, and means for driving the chain.

3. In a device of the character described, a framework, a frame membersupported on each side of the framework in spaced relation therewith,oppositely inclined guideways arranged in sets in parallel relation onthe inner faces of the said frame members, a series of ;cards or matssupported; in each set of parallel guideways down which they are adaptedto travel "by gravity, said guideways being formed with stops at thelower end to prevent thecards from passing off from the guideways andwith pivoted" catches in the upper end to allow'the cardsto becarriedthereby, and a transfer device or carrier provided with endportions adapted to be reciprocated in the spaces between the framemembers and frame work, the said carrier being ricprocably mounted inthe framework and adapted to alternately transfer cards from the lowerto the upper guideways and from the upper to the lower guideways.

4E. Ina device'of the character described, the combination of displaymeans for displayinga plurality of signs sequentially, said meansincluding'two series of display cards, one series being hidden from viewand the other series exposing the front card thereof to view, a movablecarrier member for transferring a card from one series to the other, anelectric motor for operating the carrier, a switch operated by the car-Inc rier on completion of movement in one direction to cause cessationof operation of the motor, manually operable switch for again energizingthe motor through the first mentioned switch irrespective of itsposition, and a rhcostat in the motor circuit for varying the timeinterval of movement of the carrier in transferring a card from oneseries to the other.

5. In a device of the character described, a series of card framesarranged in an upper and a lower bank and supportedfrom the upper edgesonly, a carrier reciprocable at the rear of the card frames, and a pairof fingers on the said carrier preventing the card frames on the upperbank from swinging into the path of movement of the carrier.

6. In a device of the character described, a series of card frames eachconsisting of a channel member U-shaped in form, a rod secured to eachupper end of the. channel member and extending outwardly therefrom, thesaid card frames being arranged in an upper and a lower bank, a. pair ofguides for each bank supporting the said rod ends, a series ofenlargements on each card frame spacing the frames in the banks and acarrier adapted to carry the card frames from one bank to the othersequentially.

adapted to ride on the upper or lower guideways, each card frame beingprovided with protruding portions spacing the same on the guideways,anda carrier adapted to carry the card frames from one set of guideways tothe other sequentially. V

8. In a device of the character described,-

a plurality of card frames arranged in two banks, one bank being hiddenfrom view and the other bank exposing a front card to view, means formovinga card from one of the banks to the other to expose the cards toview in sequence, an electric motor for operating the said means, aswitch automatically actuated on completion of movement of each card forcausing cessation of operation of the motor, and means operable at willfor starting the motor. 7 In testimony whereof, I sign thisspecification.

ALBERT K. DAVIS.

